PHC judges visit Nowshera Prison

NOWSHERA: The senior Peshawar High Court (PHC) Judges Justice Roohul Amin and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim on Thursday visited the Nowshera Prison.

Both the judges made the visit after the PHC Chief Justice Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth took the notice of a report which stated that a coronavirus suspect was present in the jail. The PHC judges were accompanied by District and Sessions Judge Shehnaz Hameed Khattak and Senior Civil Judge Admin Syed Murad Ali Shah.

The prison officials briefed the judges on the facilities available there to overcome the coronavirus challenge. There was detailed briefing on a prisoner, Nasir Khan, who had come from Iran and was arrested on drug smuggling charges. It was told that the prisoner in question had shown the signs of the coronavirus and hence was shifted to an isolation ward in the Qazi Medical Complex (QMC).

The honourable judges later went to all the barracks, offices, dispensary, kitchen and other facilities for inspection. Jail Superintendent Najam Abbasi gave a briefing to the judges. He said that the prison meant for 130 inmates had 436 prisoners at present and was thus overcrowded.

The official said a prisoner who had come from Iran and was here after arrest had showed symptoms of coronavirus. He said the prison had been declared a quarantine centre for 15 days after shifting the prisoner to the QMC.

It was added that the jail has been closed and nobody was being allowed to enter or leave the building, including the staff. The hounourable judges noted that while the construction of the new jail building had been approved, the work was yet to be started. They asked the concerned officials to take notice of the issue.

They expressed satisfaction at the step taken by the jail administration to save prisoners from coronavirus but asked them to take